New Exam Aimed at MSF 3.0 Experts

Last week, Microsoft Corporation added a new exam objective guide for an exam
targeting enterprise architects. Exam 70-301, Managing, Organizing, and Delivering
IT Projects by Using the Microsoft Solutions Framework 3.0 is expected to go
into beta testing from September 3 through 17 at selected Pearson Vue and Prometric
testing centers. The exam, which will be numbered 71-301 while in beta, is an
MCSE on Windows 2003 and MCSD on .NET elective, according to the objective guide.

Exam 70-301 carries hefty prerequisites. According to the exam guide, Microsoft
recommends that candidates who plan to take it have a solid background in enterprise
application and systems planning, deployment and management in a team environment,
with much of that work centrally managed through Microsoft Solutions Framework
3.0.

The exam is one of a handful of rare exceptions that straddle the IT and developer
certifications, with many of the exam's objectives resembling an application
deployment plan: project planning, risk mitigation, solution development, solution
testing and risk mitigation, and pre- and post-deployment assessments.